Royal Honours Authority
The Royal Honours Authority (also known as Royal Honors Authority and RHA), is an organisation to honour notable action in England with medals. It was set up by HRH Brianna, and is under the leadership of the current Regent, with a committee made up of delegates from all the counties of England, along with other persons selected by the Regent. The Charter of the Royal Honours Authority Charter Preamble "By the Grace of His Majesty, the King of England, and under the direct authority and guidance of the Regent of England, this group - the Royal Honours Authority - is hereby formed. It shall exist to create, form, design, and maintain, and any other activities that may be required by a national awarding authority, a number of medals and national Orders; and work in cooperation with the College of Heraldry to develop a higher caliber of standards for the protection of Peerage. The membership of this group shall investigate award nominations based on their merit for suggestion of award, as well as the possibility to upgrade, degrade, or remove the nomination as deemed proper at the time of conclusion of said investigation, via suggestion, to the Regent of England. There are awards for seperate types of things, such as: civil, military, diplomacy, politics etc, and various levels of awards within the bigger groups. Nominations for civil awards will come from Mayors, elected Dukes and the Regent, and nominations for military awards from Earl Marshall, County Captains and Regent." Membership "The membership of this group shall be chosen with the utmost care, and will fulfill a set a base requirements, and be selected by various groups to ensure their representation of ideals. This group shall serve the Regency, and through them, the people of England, through the national awards system, and so must be answerable to the Regency, and oversight by any organization the people of England see fit to grant that right. The membership shall consist of no fewer members than the number of Counties of England. The Councils have the authority to select a nominee for presentation for investigation by the existing group. This investigation’s sole purpose will be to ensure the validity of the nomination via the fulfillment of the presented requirements. The Regency will have the ability to name an equal number of members, but will be able to select their nominations of any of the people of England, whom they believe would best represent the ideals of the Regency. This number of nominations will not dis-include the automatic memberships of both the Regent’s Lord Privy and the Garter King of Arms, who shall sit on this group regardless of affiliation. From among the membership of this group will also be selected one person, voted for by the group, to represent and head the group in times required by the Regency, Parliament, any County Council, and any other such Organization with ability and authority. This Spokesperson shall be considered an equal peer of the group, but shall be the singular voice to avoid confusion and contestation. Once the Spokesperson is selected, their seat must be re-filled through the manner they were originally selected, be that by Council or Regency. They will not fill that spot during their tenure as Spokesperson. All seats of the group shall be filled until time of removal or resignation. Resignation shall be the right of any sitting member, in that no repercussions or dis-inclusion from further membership should be sanctioned against them. Removal shall occur by the violation of the same requirements for entry of membership, and shall be enacted immediately, by the suggestion of the remaining members of this group, and enacted, and declared, by the Regency. A probationary period shall also be created of the duration of two months. This will be to ensure a required level of activity and understanding of the processes of this group. At the end of this period, should a nominee remain under active and lacking the understanding expected by the remaining of the group, it shall be recommended that the Regent remove the person, and announce the need for the filling of their seat. The requirements for membership to this group, shall include, but not necessarily be limited to: - Of Good Character, by the investigation of personal history, and the records of established judiciary bodies, as well as personal reference of the existing membership. - Of Noble Being, by the restriction of membership in any such organization seen as contrary to the continued unification of England, and its Counties. - Both Active and Vocal, by the requirement for continued presence within the halls of the group, and the need for mention during coming periods of inactivity." The Process of Award "It must be maintained that this group is not responsible for the awarding of any medal, National Order, or Peerage, because that is the right of the Regency alone. This group's primary purpose is to provide the backing documentation and facts relevant to the giving of any national-level award. Award nominations shall be accepted from: the Mayors of towns at the rate of one per term, County Councils and/or their Counts at the rate of one per town per term, and from the Regency itself at the rate of one per county per term. Military award nominations shall be accepted from: County Captains at the rate of one per term, Earl Marshall and Regent at the rate of one per county per term. This shall not be a requirement for the minimum of nominations, but none over this number shall be accepted, nor will replacement nomination be accepted; once submitted, a nomination shall be considered final. An award nomination should contain all pertinent facts relevant to the award being sought. A list of all awards, their levels, and for what they are awarded for shall be created, maintained, and provided for public view at all times. The award sought shall not be guaranteed to be the award that is granted, which is dependent upon the outcome of the investigation of the award nomination. The investigation process will be handled by one or more members of this group and access to all related documentation must be provided or the investigation may face closure and rejection of the nomination. It shall be the right of the provider of the nomination to request different investigators at the initial proposal, but not once the investigation has began. The investigation process should take no longer than two to four weeks. Should an investigation appear to require longer than this length of time, this group will assign extra manpower, as available, to the investigation to complete it within the appropriate time frame. Investigations into award nominations shall occur in the order they are received by this group with the exception of proclamation by the Regent. At the time of completion, all findings, this group's suggestion, and the original award nomination shall be provided to the Regent to pass review upon and proclaim. Should a peerage be deemed appropriate by the committee, the findings, along with a recommendation for peerage, will be forwarded to the College of Heraldry to start the process of reviewing the possible granting of a title of nobility and lands. Should the College rebuke this recommendation, the Awards Committee will award the candidate membership in an appropriate Order. Awards shall take place at an appropriate time and place depending on the award itself, its level, and the wishes of the Regent and original nominating authority." The Charter Amendment Process "Any proposed amendment to this document shall be voted upon by all present members and the vote shall last for a period of no more than three days, pending a majority outcome. Amendments may be proposed by any sitting member, and discussion held prior to vote if so desired." Types of Medal The Most Noble Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is the highest order awarded to individuals for a single action. It is the foremost Order and is only awarded for highly valorous or meritorious actions that benefit England as a whole. The King is Sovereign of the Garter, and the Regent, during his/her regency, is known as Knight/Lady Companion of the Garter. Companions of this Most Noble Order are known as Knight or Lady Companion and can wear the Garter around their personal Coat of Arms. The Ribbon of the Order is of kingfisher blue. All other orders are awarded in three degrees and, in order from lowest to highest, these are Companion, Officer and Grand Cross. Wearers of the Grand Cross may, in addition to the medal and ribbon, wear a ribbon of the Order around their coat of arms. The Most Honourable Order of Merit The Most Honourable Order of Merit is divided in two divisions: Civil and Military. The Most Honourable Order of Merit is awarded for deeds in the Civic domain of Arts, Science, or Culture or in the Military domain for actions benefiting the whole of England, including its Civic advancement or actions enlarging its exterior and interior safety, but is not limited to actions in combat. The colour of the Most Honourable Order of Merit is Crimson. The Military Division has an additional Crossed Swords on the ribbon. The Most Distinguished Order of the English Lion The Most Distinguished Order of the English Lion is the English Order of Chivalry which honours individuals who have rendered important services in relation to the external politics of England or foreign nations. The colour of the Most Distinguished Order of English Lion is Yellow. The Most Notable Order of the Crown The Most Notable Order of the Crown is the English Order that honours individuals who have rendered important services in relation to the national politics of England. The colour of the Notable Order of Crown is Purple. The Royal Nordicnorn Order The Royal Nordicnorn Order is the English Order that honours individuals who have rendered important services in relation to the Regency of England. The colour of Royal Nordicnorn Order is Black. The Crown’s Medal The Crown’s Medals are awarded to people who engage themselves in meritorious actions in Civic areas on the Local level. There are four divisions: the Arts, Science, Public Service, and Community Spirit. The Crown’s medal colors are purple with a silver border. The divisions are depicted by a small colored line to the interior of the silver border: Green for the Arts, Lilac for Science, Sky Blue for Public Service, and Black for Community Service. Individuals may receive each award multiple times; each awarding will be indicated with a bronze star and once there are five bronze stars, a silver star will be added. The Military Medal Three distinct Medals are awarded for Military duty: the Military Medal for Service and Conduct, the Military Medal for Achievement, and the Military Medal for Gallantry. The Military Medals colours are Red and Blue. The Service and Conduct Medal is half Blue and half Red, the Military Medal for Achievement is Blue, Red and Blue, evenly spread. The Military Medal for Gallantry is Red with a Blue border. Individuals may receive each award multiple times; each awarding will be indicated with a bronze star and once there are five bronze stars, a silver star will be added. Medals awarded for actions during war will have a pair of crossed silver swords on the Ribbon. 5a. The Military Medal for Service and Conduct (MMS) The Service and Conduct Medal is awarded to Military Personnel who serve in the Armies and fulfil their duties above and beyond the call of duty. Fulfilling a normal mission would not be enough to be awarded this medal; continuously doing missions for a higher good would grant this. 5b. The Military Medal for Achievement (MMA) The Military Medal for Achievement is awarded to those soldiers and officers who engage themselves in organising and improving the Military as a whole or on the Local level. The actions should be beyond the normal work as expected from the function. 5c. The Military Medal for Gallantry (MMG) The Military Medal for Gallantry is awarded for Gallantry in combat or life-threatening situations, both during war and in peacetime. The Service Medals The Service Medals for Achievement are awarded to citizens of England from whose actions have helped the English Scholarly Community. These medals are granted in three divisions: State, Science, and Army, usually for finding the constraints and possibilities of those professions. Individuals receiving one of these medals must be both a professional and a scholar and have attended classes at the university. The Service Medals colors are Blue, Black and Blue evenly spread. The divisions are depicted by a small colored line to the exterior of the central black part, light blue for State Activities, pink for Science Activities and Red for Army Activities. Individuals may receive each award multiple times; each awarding will be indicated with a bronze star and once there are five bronze stars, a silver star will be added. Campaign Stars Campaign Stars are medals awarded to commemorate Soldiers who have taken part in military campaigns. The Campaign Star is always awarded with a tag of the campaign participated in and a receiver can have received many Campaign Stars during a career. A military campaign is as defined in the Armed Forces Charter and after vote of the House of Commons. The Campaign Stars are worn in the order being awarded, with the oldest Campaign Star having precedence over all others. The Campaign Star can be awarded with Golden Star for being Killed or Wounded and/or Golden Crossed Swords for participation in combat. The Campaign Stars are not awarded using the procedures outlined in this document, but by the services of the Earl Marshall. The artwork is however a responsibility of this group. Jubilee Medals A Jubilee Medal is a celebratory medal, given to those who participate, and/or assist in an event's organization. It is given for a single specific event, or time period, in the same manner as a campaign medal, but is instead a civil variant, though it can be worn by both, much the same way this campaign medal will be worn by both soldiers and civil participants in the campaign. At the discretion of the Regent a Jubilee Medal can be created for major civil events organised in the Kingdom of England and for the benefit of the whole population of the Kingdom. The Jubilee Medals are worn in the order the Jubilee Medals are awarded, the oldest first. Order of Precedence 1. Knight (or Lady) Companion of the Order (KG or LG) 1a. Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (GOM) 1b. Grand Cross of the Order of the English Lion (GEL) 1c. Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (GOC) 1d. Grand Cross of the Royal Nordicnorn Order (GRN) 2a. Officer of the Order of Merit (OOM) 2b. Officer of the Order of the English Lion (OEL) 2c. Officer of the Order of the Crown (OOC) 2d. Officer of the Royal Nordicnorn Order (ORN) 3a. Companion of the Order of Merit (COM) 3b. Companion of the Order of the English Lion (CEL) 3c. Companion of the Order of the Crown (COC) 3d. Companion of the Royal Nordicnorn Order (CRN) 4a. The Crown's Medal for the Arts (CMA) 4b. The Crown's Medal for the Sciences (CMS) 4c. The Crown's Medal for Public Service (CMP) 4d. The Crown's Medal for Community Spirit (CMC) 5a. The Military Medal for Service and Conduct (MMS) 5b. The Military Medal for Achievement (MMA) 5c. The Military Medal for Gallantry (MMG) 6a. The Service Medal for Achievement in State Activities (SMT) 6b. The Service Medal for Achievement in Science Activities (SMC) 6c. The Service Medal for Achievement in Army Activities (SMA) 7. Campaign Stars (in order of date of award) (CS) 8. Jubilee Medals(in order of date of award) (JM) Protocol for Display of National Awards Persons given a medal may display the full medal graphic in their signature, either full size or reduced. As well as, or instead of this, they may display the medal ribbons in a row at the bottom of their signature, up to the signature size maximum (600 pixels, therefore 6 medal ribbons). These may not be reduced in size. Medals and ribbons should be worn in order of precedence, with the highest order to the left and the lowest to the right. Persons who have been awarded the highest grade of an Order, and are therefore entitled to wear a ribbon of that order around their coat of arms, should contact the College of Heraldry to have this update made. When eligible to wear more then one ribbon around the coat of arms, maximum two are worn. With the highest order on the outside and the lower on the inside. Persons who have been awarded a medal may use the medal graphic in their roleplay posts, as appropriate. People awarded membership into a National Order can use the acronym derivation of that Order after their name. The acronyms should again be in order of precedence, highest first. Those displaying a medal or ribbon to which they are not entitled, either in their signature, avatar, or a posting, will be given a grace period of 7 days to remove the medal or ribbon. Graphical Standard for Ribbons and Medals All medal graphics will be a transparent background GIF file, 85 pixels wide by 180 pixels high. The corresponding medal ribbon graphic will be a GIF file, 100 pixels wide by 30 pixels high. The ribbon should have alternating, 1 pixel wide stripes of shading to imply the corrugation of the ribbon material. Counties, knighthoods, and militia groups wishing to strike their own medals will be required to show drafts of the designs to this committee for approval by vote before they can be used. They will need to be of distinct design, with a medal ribbon that is different enough to existing ribbon colours to not cause confusion. They should also be of a good aesthetic standard. A clear description of the criteria for giving the medal should be attached. This committee can be contacted to design a medal for the benefit of the mentioned groups. Forum Link RHA Public Forum Category:Organizations